dizeman

<p>I had black material back 25 years ago that was as close to non-reflective black as you can get and it was very, very close to non-reflective.<br>

I sat products on it, then slammed it with Speedotron Blackline 2401s, tons of light and there was nothing but deep dark NOTHINGNESS.<br>

It used to be very popular and most of the PRO camera shops either had it or could order it. I think DENNYS Company has it or can order it.<br>

It's out there, so black it looks like a black hole, nothing but emptiness. It is expensive though.<br>

It had a nickname like Negative Black or something like that.</p>

<p>I've shot hundreds of weddings over a 30 year career in photography and yes, they do come up with some really ridiculous demands and restrictions. I retired in 2000, but a few years before that I was contracted to photograph a wedding at a church here in Vegas and the officiant told me I could not use any lights whatsoever.<br>

<br />I met with him alone and asked, "Do you think God loves this couple and the marriage they are about to commit to?" He answered, "Of course! God is love and the marriage ceremony is the embodiment of that love." I asked, "I am not as religious as I should be and I am not familiar with all of the teachings of God, but from what you and other ministers have told me from the teachings, the very word of God, it's just so hard for me to believe for even a second, that God, the loving God, compassionate God that everyone tells me about, would not want the finest wedding possible for this couple.</p>

<p>It's just hard for me to comprehend that a loving God would not want this couple, joined in one of the most loving ceremonies, if not the most loving ceremony, to have the finest memories of this event to carry forward into their lives so that when doubt and struggle and all of those things that fight so hard to destroy loving marriages and separate loving couples who became one in the eyes of God, they can sit down, look back upon this most special, this most sacred of days in their lives and remember why it was they got married in the first place. Quality photography makes that possible and quality photography requires light. The higher the quality of the light, the higher quality of the photos.</p>

<p>Would God really not want that for this loving couple? Would God really demand they have lesser quality memories of this, what may be the most important event in their lives.... not want them to have the finest photos possible to remember this day? It's hard for me to believe God would deny them this small gift, but you're the expert..."</p>

<p>I then told the Priest, "I can't profess to be as religious as I should be, but I understand the MAGIC and the POWER of REVERENCE! (The entire church and most churches are designed so they give an accoustic ECHO to help create REVERNCE. Most churches are designed to be lit, so that the Pries or officiant is spotlighted in a GOLDEN GLOW to create REVERENCE...) I understand all of that and I don't want to take away from that and don't want to interfere with the REVERENCE of the ceremony, which is why I go out of my way, take extra care in mounting the lights where they are hidden from view, behind columns, blocked from the congregation by bouquets of flowers, pedestals etc."</p>

<p>The Priest with nobody around to impress or express his REVERENCE, became very down to earth and told me I could bring the lights by, show him what I would do with them, where I would put them and demonstrate how often and how intense the disturbance would be.<br>

<br />I did and he, AFTER TELLING ME HOW GRATEFUL I SHOULD BE, allowed me to use the lights. Three White Lightning 1800s hidden behind columns throughout the chapel, snooted so the light was concentrated on the key locations, the alter, the candle etc... and the lights did not spill out into the congregation, nor did they fire directly into anyone's eyes other than the Priest, who was looking down in most of the shots or looking into the eyes of the B&G.<br>

<br />Sometimes you have to explain technology to the untrained and place the burden of GUILT of bad photos on their shoulders. MOST could not care less, they suffer from THE GOD COMPLEX! They imagine they are not a servant of God, but instead God's right hand man.<br>

<br />In hundreds of weddings I have shot, I have seen some odd things. I saw two Priests almost go to fisticuffs fighting over the fact that one of them did not secure a cash GIFT from the Bride and Groom in advance of booking the wedding. I mean they were pushing, shoving, SOB this, F that... I was in the dressing room packing up my cameras when I heard the arguing and looked out the half-opened door to see what was going on.<br />They were a heartbeat from knocking each other out... SO MUCH FOR REVERENCE!!!</p>

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<p>I NEVER squirt superglue from the tube, I always put a few drops on a small 4x6 piece of glass I took out of a picture frame. Once I put a few drops of Superglue on the glass, I use a wooden round pointed toothpick to pick up a drop of the glue and then place that drop on whatever needs to be glued. You always have to be careful of LEECHING, which is when the glue seeks a very quick path into any crack or point of least resistance.<br>

Yes! SuperGlue can be removed with solvent as stated on each tube of SuperGlue. Careful with Skin, you know the ORIGINAL development for SuperGlue was for gluing SKIN together during operations. Stitching without the stitches. Which is why it works so well on your FINGERS!!</p>

<p>You've all probably seen this already... I don't know where this kid gets all of this equipment, but he always has the finest of everything and doesn't mind destroying it to prove a point. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpiTJ3_Jugo&feature=related">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpiTJ3_Jugo&feature=related</a><br>

Regardless of what has been said about Joseph Nicholas Spina, the FACT is, he sure has access to some excellent, high end quipment, in fact, pretty much the newest and best of everything Nikon, much of which he does not mind throwing off the top of stairs, pouring anything and everything fluid on, using as a hammer. Real? Not real? Lunatic or liar as has been suggested, his access to the equipment and extensive testing cannot be denied. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Lilkiwiguy87">http://www.youtube.com/user/Lilkiwiguy87</a></p>

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<p>I am having the same problem, but oddly enough it is not consistant. When I set my D700 on 1/250th of a second, ISO 200 with either the SB800 mounted or wireless, now and then I get the tell-tale speed line rising up from the bottom of the frame. It progresses as I increase the shutter speed as would be expected, but what is unexpected is that sometimes at 1/250th it does not show. The settings are all the same, never changed anything in my test. I just shot five photos and in three of them I had the black edge speed bar and in two the bar was not there. All shot on MANUAL f.8 at 1/250th of a second and yet, there is a variable in the number of times the black bar shows and when it doesn't. WEIRD!<br>

What is even stranger is that the black bar in several of the photos does not run the entire length of the bottom of the frame, it runs about half way and then stops and is clear again. That's a new one to me in over 30 years in the biz. Starting to think there is a curtain loose or something. Nope! Camera was bought new and babied, not a bump, grind, scratch, nor dew drop on it.<br>

The metering did go funky when I attached the MB-D10 bat grip, but that is for another time.</p>

<p>Here in Las Vegas we have what is known world-wide as THE TRIPOD LAW which means if you break out a tripod or show up with professional looking equipment on the streets of Las Vegas, you will be assigned commercial status by local law enforcement which means you could be fined $1,000 for taking a photo or worse, arrested if you refuse to stop taking photos.<br>

Anyone thought to be taking photos for commercial purposes or of a commercial nature in the city limits of Las Vegas, the county limits of Clark County, off in the desert on BLM land (the people's land by the way) will be fined and STOPPED from taking photos or possibly arrested.<br>

I have argued with the city, county and state authorities about this for a year, but they make the final judgement as to whether you are in violation of the law or not.<br>

I asked them... "So if a tourist stands beside me with a tripod shooting the famous WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS sign and I am using the same tripod and camera, it is okay for them to take the photo, but because I own a photography business it is illegal for me to take the same photo?" The answer was, "You understand the law very clearly... YES! it is against the law for YOU as a photographic professional to take the photo, but it is fine if the tourist takes the photo."<br>

The solution to this problem... which only compounds if you take a photo on Fremont Street since that is governed by at least two government and one private agencies and you have to deal with each.<br>

But... the solution. The State of Nevada, Clark County and the City of Las Vegas require that photographers who shoot commercially or own a photography business or charge fees or look like pros... have a $5 million liability insurance policy within which all three agencies and the Fremont Street Experience owners be named as insured.<br>

Whomever allowed this to happen... this law to be passed in any town and city should have their butt kicked.<br>

It is no more DANGEROUS for a professional photographer to set up a tripod on Fremont Street and take a photo of a client than it is for Joe Tourist from Aintwelucky, Oklahoma to set up his tripod and shoot his daughter in front of the lights. BUT JOE CAN DO IT FOR FREE without any fear of being arrested, yet the PROFESSIONAL photographer, trained in how to handle his or her equipment RISKS BIG FINES AND JAILTIME if he or she takes a photo without $5 million in liability insurance and associated fees and yes... in some cases there are additional fees.<br>

Something has gone horribly wrong in America... soon it will be illegal to take a BREATH OF AIR without being insurced or paying a fee of some sort.</p>